Akron Women's Basketball Heads To Ohio For MAC East Showdown

Wednesday, January 29

Athens, OH

7 PM

University of Akron

Ohio

Akron Women's Basketball Heads To Ohio For MAC East Showdown

January 28 | Women's Basketball

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Akron (9-9,2-5 MAC) vs. Ohio (12-6, 5-2 MAC)
Wednesday, Jan. 29
Athens, Ohio • Convocation Center • 7:00 p.m.
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What's Ahead
The Akron women's basketball team is scheduled for its third Mid-American Conference East Divisional showdown as the Zips head to Athens, Ohio for a weekday tilt against Ohio University. The Zips and Bobcats are slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside the Convo. All action between UA and OU can be seen on ESPN+ or heard live on Fox Sports 1350 with Bill Morgan on the call.

Scouting the Bobcats
The preseason favorites to win the MAC East, MAC regular-season championship, and MAC Tournament, the Ohio Bobcats have shown they are all business in 2019-20. The Bobcats enter its contests against Akron with a 12-6 overall record and 5-2 mark through seven league contests. After beginning the MAC schedule 2-2, Ohio has since won three straight match-ups over Ball State (79-71), Northern Illinois (85-79), and Bowling Green (79-69).

Four Bobcat starters pace the offensive attack for Ohio all scoring in double-figures, including CeCe Hooks, Erica Johnson, Amani Burke, and Gabby Burris. Hooks is the Bobcats leading scorer averaging 17.1 points per game on the offensive end and leads the defensive end in steals (60). Johnson, the reigning Freshman and Sixth Man of the Year last season, is scoring 16.9 points per contest, grabs a team-best 7.8 rebounds, and has recorded a team-high 66 assists. Burke, a senior guard, scored 13.1 points per game, is shooting 30-percent from distance, and 35-percent overall. Burris averages 10.3 points to round of the top Bobcat scoring threats.

In the NCAA, Ohio ranks in the top-50 in seven statistical categories, including turnover margin (11th), steals per game (16th), fewest turnovers (17th), turnovers per game (26th), turnovers forced (28th), three-point field goal attempts (28th), and steals (30th). Individually, Hooks ranks 8th in steals per game and 12th in steals, while Johns ranks 17th in three-point field goal percentage.

Probable Starters
Ohio: CeCe Hooks, Erica Johnson, Amani Burke, Gabby Burris, Katie Barker.

Akron: Shaunay Edmonds, Shayna Harmon, Jordyn Dawson, Haliegh Reinoehl, Caitlin Vari.

Series History
Since 1977, the Akron women's basketball team owns a 19-44 all-time series record against Ohio University. The Zips are looking for its first win against the Bobcats since 2018 and its first win at the Convo since 2014.

Last Time Out
The quartet of junior forward Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio), junior guard Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa), junior guard Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.) and redshirt senior Megan Sefcik (Austintown, Ohio) combined to score 64 points for the Zips as the Akron women's basketball team battled Ohio to an 81-71 decision in favor of the Bobcats in Mid-American Conference action inside James A. Rhodes Arena.

Despite the result, Akron (16-11, 7-9 MAC) maintained its position in the MAC standings as eighth overall, while Ohio (23-4, 11-4 MAC) remains among the top teams in the league with two games remaining in the regular season.

Akron's leading scorer, Sefcik, paced the Zips offensive efforts for the 17th time this season as the sharpshooter knocked down nine field goals for 22 points to go along with five assists and three rebounds. It was a career-night for Vari in the scoring column as the junior notched a career-high 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Vari also grabbed six rebounds and a block. Edmonds, who is coming off a career-night, pitched in 13 points and five assists. Clay, who turned in 23 strong minutes off the bench, chipped in 11 points due in large part to three triples from long range.

For the game, Akron shot 39.4-percent from the floor (26-for-66), but the Zips were on fire in the fourth quarter in its attempt for a come-from-behind victory recording a 73.3-percent clip (11-for-15) in the final 10 minutes of play. Akron also turned in a 36.3-percent shooting performance from beyond the arc and went 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.

Coaches
Ohio: Bob Boldon, is in his seventh season at the helm of the Ohio women's basketball program. Boldon is the all-time winningest coach in Bobcat history recording 142 wins and a 71-37 Mid-American Conference Record. Bolden spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Zips.

Akron: Melissa Jackson begins her second season at the helm of the Akron women's basketball program. In her debut season, Jackson led the Zips to a 16-15 overall record, a 7-11 MAC ledger, improved by seven wins overall and +4 in conference victories. Jackson's squad became just the eighth team in program history to win at least 16 games in a season.

Mid-American Conference Member
The Zips have been a member of the Mid-American Conference for the past 28 years after joining the league in 1992 from the North Star Conference.

With A Win Over Ohio, Akron Would...

Earn its 10th win of the 2019-20 season
Improve to 10-9 on the season and 3-5 in the MAC.
Improves the Zips road record to 6-4.
Hand head coach Melissa Jackson her 27th career win.
Capture the Zips 478th program win.
End a three-game losing streak to Ohio and six-game losing skid in Athens, Ohio.

Zips Tidbits

The 2019-20 season marks the 46th season of competition for the Akron women's basketball program.
Junior Jordyn Dawson and two freshmen, Rachel Martindale and Lonasia Brewer, made their respective collegiate debuts against St. Bonaventure. Martindale played 15 minutes and scored two points while Brewers saw more minutes of action.
Dawson provided a big spark for the Zips in her Akron debut. JD scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, and was +25 in +/- when on the court.
Akron picked up its first victory of the season against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, 63-54. The win marked the sixth time since 2012-13 that Akron captured a win in the season opener.
Shaunay Edmonds recorded the first double-double of her career scoring 20 points and tallying a career-high 10 steals, including 5 steals in the fourth quarter alone.
Haliegh Reineohl posted her team-leading 25th career double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds).
Forward Caitlin Vari eclipsed the 500 career point mark against St. Bonaventure with her 13 point effort.
In the fourth quarter against St. Bonaventure, Akron outscored the Bonnies 20-4 and scored 17 unanswered points in the final six minutes of the game.
The Zips went to the free-throw line 31 times against St. Bonaventure and connected on 25 attempts. Akron fell two made free throws shy of tying the 10th most free throws made in a single-game.
Defensively, UA limited St. Bonaventure to a game-low four points in the quarter as the Bonnies shot 1-for-13, committed seven turnovers, and Edmonds single-handedly ripped five steals.
Jordyn Dawson registered her first career double-double in an Akron uniform against Fort Wayne while Haliegh Reinoehl notched back-to-back double-doubles to start the season.
UA grabbed a season-high 41 team rebounds, including 14 offensive boards. Dawson and Reinoehl accounted for 24 of the Zips rebounds.
Against the Mastodons, UA scored 34 points in the paint, 20 points in the paint, and the Zips contributed 23 points.
The Zips led for 30:40 of the game against Purdue Fort Wayne and led by as many as +11.
Akron captured two straight wins to begin the season in back-to-back campaigns.
Against Michigan, four Akron players scored in double figures including Haliegh Reinoehl (14), Jordyn Dawson (13), Shayna Harmon (13), Rachel Martindale (12).
Martindale scored a career-high 12 points and knocked down four triples against UM.
As a team, UA shot a season-high 45.9-percent from the floor and 40.7-percent from long range.
The Zips led then No. 24 Michigan for a total of 2:43 and led by as many as four.
UA outscored the Wolverines 22-16 in the second quarter and 24-14 in the third quarter.
Akron earned its third win of the season against YSU as the Zips rolled to a 91-62 victory.
In the 40 minute contest, the Zips led for a season-high 39:18 and led by as many as +34.
From distance, Akron shot a season-best .407 against the Penguins.
In the plus/minus category, all five starters against YSU, Reineohl, Vari, Dawson, Harmon, and Edmonds, were all +25 or high, including a game-high +31 by Vari.
All 12 players who checked into the contest against YSU recorded at least one point.
Freshman guard Molly Neitzel scored the first three points of her career while Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell matched her career-high with 13 points.
Against Detroit, the Zips recorded a season-high 20 assists, including a game- and season-high five by Shaunay Edmonds.
In the third quarter alone, Edmonds scored or assisted on six of the Zips 10 field goals en route to six points, four assists, and two steals. Haliegh Reinoehl added five points with four rebounds and Shayna Harmon scored five points, two rebounds, and two assists to help lead the Zips to a +11 advantage (25-14).
Akron led for 33 of the 40 minute contest against Cleveland State before a late push by the Vikings earned CSU the win.
The backcourt duo of Haliegh Reineohl and Caitlin Vari scored a combined 30 of the Zips 62 points. Reineohl notched her third double-double (16 pts, 10 reb) and led the Zips in scoring for the fourth time in 2019-20, while Vari scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Junior Jordyn Dawson scored seven of her nine points in the fourth quarter against CSU while Shayna Harmon posted a season-high seven rebounds, team-high four assists, made eight free throws, and tallied three steals.
The Zips two best quarters offensively against CSU came in the second and fourth periods where UA shot a combined 13-for-30 and tallied 36 of its 62 total points.
Against Duquesne, Kendall Miller played a career-high 31 minutes and tied a career-mark five assists.
Freshman Rachel Martindale matched her career-high 12 points against the Dukes, went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, 3-for-3 from long range, and 1-for-1 from the free throw line.
Against Butler, Jordyn Dawson scored 10 of the Zips 13 third quarter points.
Lonasia Brewer scored a career-high eight points against the Bulldogs while Dawson matched a season-high 18 points.
Senior Haliegh Reinoehl scored a season-high 22 points against NC A&T, which fell one point shy of her career-best 23 points.
Senior guard Shayna Harmon turned in 12 points against the Aggies going a perfect 4-for-4 from long range.
The Zips defense forced 23 turnovers by the NC A&T offense while the Akron offense assisted on 17 of its 24 made field goals.
Akron went 2-0 at the 2019 Puerto Rico Classic defeating Denver and Morgan State. The Zips are 4-0 went participating in December holiday tournaments in the past two seasons and collected a three-game win streak (2019) and four-game win streak (2018) to close out the past two non-conference schedules.
Against the Pioneers, senior Haliegh Reinoehl recorded a career day scoring 26 points while senior Caitlin Vari grabbed a career-best 17 rebounds.
The Zips led by just one point heading into the fourth quarter against Denver before scoring a season-high 34 points and shot 91.6-percent from the floor in the final 10 minutes of play to defeat DU by +16.
Akron set season-highs in points in the paint (50 ) and points off turnovers (34) while tying season-high numbers in points scored (88) and assists (21).
In her first Mid-American Conference contest against CMU, junior Jordyn Dawson scored a career-high 25 points, shot 50-percent from the floor, and grabbed seven rebounds.
Akron scored 14 unanswered points against Bowling Green in the final 2:29 of the fourth to complete a come-from-behind 76-73 victory over the Falcons.
Defensively, the Zips shutdown the Falcons offense in the closing minutes of the fourth as BG went 0-for-3, turned the ball over twice, and committed three fouls sending UA to the line.
In the fourth quarter alone, Akron outscored BGSU, 27-17, shot a game-high 55.6-percent from the floor, 5-for-6 from the charity stripe, scored 16 points in the paint, 10 points off turnovers, eight second-chance points, and seven fastbreak points.
The Zips starting five of Edmonds, Dawson, Harmon, Reinoehl, and Vari accounted for 71 of Akron's 76 points against Bowling Green.
Haliegh Reinoehl matched a career-high 26 points against BGSU and recorded her fourth double-double of the season.
Caitlin Vari pulled down 16 rebounds against Bowling Green and scored 14 points for her second double-double of the season.
Haliegh Reinoehl recorded a double-double in back-to-back games for the first time this season against Bowling Green (26/11) and Toledo (15/10).
Akron outscored Toledo 42-27 in the second half and 22-13 in the fourth quarter.
Down by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, Akron rallied in the third and fourth quarter to claim its first lead over Toledo at the 4:10 mark. The Zips outscored the Rockets 28-7 which included 11 straight points beginning at 3:36 in the third and ended at 4:09 in the fourth.
Alyssa Clay scored a season-high nine points against the Rockets going 3-for-6 from distance.
Caitlin Vari has scored in double figures in all four MAC contests and in five of the Zips last six games.
Sophomore Kendall Miller scored a career-high 11 points against Northern Illinois on 5-of-7 shooting and 1-of-2 from long range.
Haliegh Reinoehl has now scored in double figures in four straight games, in seven of the Zips last nine games, and 13 of UA's 17 total contests, while leading UA in scoring in 11 contests.
Shaunay Edmonds became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 career points.
Akron stole a season-high 14 steals against Miami and forced 18 RedHawk turnovers.
UA snapped a six game losing streak against Miami dating back to 2016.
Jordryn Dawson recorded a career-high 13 rebounds and notched the third double-double of her career in the Zips win over the RedHawks.
The four-headed attack of Jordyn Dawson, Shaunay Edmonds, Haliegh Reinoehl, and Shayna Harmon scored 56 of UA's 71 points.
Akron tallied a shooting percentage of 60-percent in the fourth quarter against the Broncos.
Jordryn Dawson turned in her best two-game stretch of the season against Miami and Western Michigan. Dawson scored 20.5 points per game, pulled down 7.5 rebounds per match-up, ripped 4.0 steals per contest, and averaged 2.0 assists per game while shooting 60-percent from the floor and 76.9-percent from the free-throw line.
In two games, 11 players who checked into the game scored a minimum of one point in the contests against YSU and Detroit. A season-high 12 players scored in the Zips win against the Penguins.
The Zips have had four players score in double figures in five of its 18 games while a minimum of two Akron players have notched double digits in the scoring column in 16 of 18 contests and a season-best five Zips tallied double figures against YSU.
The Zips in the NCAA (stats as of 1/28):
Turnovers: Fewest turnovers (49th, 265), turnovers per game (89th, 14.7), turnover margin (100th, 2.22), assist/turnover ratio (149th, 0.90).
Free Throws: free-throw percentage (179th, .683).
Scoring: scoring margin (168th, +1.7), scoring offense (132nd, 67.8), field goal percentage (129th, 40.9).
Defense: fewest fouls (151st, 321), steals per game (156th, 8.2).
Zips players in the NCAA (stats as of 1/28):
Haliegh Reinoehl - 159th rebounds per game (7.8), 186th field goal percentage (44.4), 169th points per game (15.0).
Jordyn Dawson - 105th field goal percentage (48.2), 98th steals per game (2.11), 115th steals (38).
Shaunay Edmonds - 205th steals per game (1.83).
Team Game-Highs: Points (91, YSU), field goals made (33, YSU), three-pointers (12), free throws made (25, SBU), rebounds (46, NC A&T), assists (21, Denver.), steals (14, Miami), blocks (7, Det.)
Individual Game-Highs: Points (26, Reinoehl 3X), field goals made (11 Dawson), three-pointers (4, Martindale), free throws made (8, Harmon), rebounds (17, Vari), assists (6 Edmonds), steals (10, Edmonds).

Up Next
The Zips women's basketball team is back at home inside James A. Rhodes Arena on Saturday, Feb. 1 when Akron hosts Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. The contests between the Zips and Eagles is the final MAC West showdown at home for UA and its second to last cross-divisional match-up.